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Wen Yixin was still thinking about the term "ppl" when she glanced over and noticed that the two girls were now whispering even more closely, their voices too low for her to hear.
Meanwhile, Qin Ruan had found a seat and sat down first but noticed that Wen Yixin was still standing. Looking up, she saw that Wen Yixin was staring at those girls.
Qin Ruan hesitated for a moment, following Wen Yixin's gaze. Her eyes rested on the two girls briefly before looking back at Wen Yixin, who still seemed to be watching them. Qin Ruan couldn't help but pinch her fingers nervously and quietly asked, "Sister Wen, what are you looking at?"
Wen Yixin snapped out of it and returned her gaze to Qin Ruan, sitting across from her. She shook her head, "Nothing."
Qin Ruan responded with a soft "Oh," seemingly unsatisfied with the answer, her voice tinged with a bit of sulkiness.
She glanced back at the two girls that Wen Yixin had been watching and then focused on the long-haired one. She couldn't help but ask, "Sister Wen, you seemed to be looking at her for a long time... Do you think she's prettier?"
Wen Yixin was taken aback, realizing that Qin Ruan had misunderstood. She quickly explained, "No, it's not that. I just thought what they were saying was interesting, so I looked over."
"What did they say?" Qin Ruan pressed, curious since she hadn't paid attention to the two girls earlier and didn't know what Wen Yixin was referring to.
"Uh..." Wen Yixin hesitated for a few seconds before deciding to explain, "They mentioned something about 'ppl.' I didn't understand it. Do you know what that means?"
Qin Ruan's ears turned red at the question, but she steadied her voice and lied for the first time, "I don't know either."
Wen Yixin believed her and didn't think much of it. However, while idly browsing her phone, she couldn't help but search for the term on a video site she frequently used.
As soon as she pressed the search button, a list of videos popped up. Wen Yixin stared at the thumbnails and titles, stunned for a long time. Her finger hovered over the most popular video, its thumbnail showing two beautiful women. Just as she was about to click on it, she hesitated and pulled her hand back.
Even without clicking on it, Wen Yixin could figure out what the keyword referred to just from the titles and thumbnails.
ppl...
Did her relationship with Qin Ruan really look so close that it could be mistaken for that?
She closed the search page and couldn't resist glancing at Qin Ruan again.
She didn't think so, and besides, Qin Ruan didn't seem like...
Just as Wen Yixin reached that thought, her gaze flickered. She suddenly remembered that the novel she was in was a GL (girls' love) novel, where most of the girls who appeared were indeed not straight.
Although Qin Ruan's character wasn't heavily featured in the story, and her sexual orientation wasn't explicitly mentioned...
Wen Yixin blinked, her fingers unconsciously relaxing.
"Qin Ruan..." she hesitated, her voice trailing off.
"Sister Wen," Qin Ruan responded promptly, her gaze fixed on Wen Yixin with undivided attention.
Wen Yixin opened her mouth slightly but then closed it again.
She pressed her lips together and instead asked an unrelated question, "How much longer do you think our lemon tea will take?"
As she spoke, Wen Yixin handed the order number to Qin Ruan.
Qin Ruan looked at the number and calculated, "It should be less than 10 minutes."
"Are you in a hurry to leave, Sister Wen?"
Wen Yixin shook her head. Her eyes briefly met Qin Ruan's before she quickly averted them. She lowered her head, distractedly scrolling through her phone, her fingers switching between apps aimlessly as she replied, "No, just a bit bored waiting."
She wanted to do something to take her mind off things and stop thinking about certain topics.
As Wen Yixin continued to scroll, her fingers finally landed on something that caught her interest. She clicked on a mini-game in WeChat and started playing.
The sound of the game caught Qin Ruan's attention, and she looked up at Wen Yixin. Seeing her focused on the game and not paying her any attention, Qin Ruan unconsciously leaned over to see what she was playing.
Suddenly, a small shadow fell across Wen Yixin's screen, causing her to pause her game.
She looked up.
Qin Ruan's gaze lifted from Wen Yixin's phone, where she had been watching her play a drawing game.
"Sister Wen, can I play with you?" Qin Ruan asked.
Wen Yixin: ...
She was silent for a moment before replying slowly while drawing on the screen, "I'm already playing this round, so I can't invite you now."
Not the answer Qin Ruan expected.
She froze, unable to hide the disappointment and embarrassment on her face. She bit the inside of her lower lip gently.
"I can wait until you're done with this round, and then we can play together."
Wen Yixin finished drawing her picture and glanced at Qin Ruan again after hearing her words.
Seeing her crestfallen expression, Wen Yixin's heart skipped a beat. Her brows furrowed slightly as she sighed softly, "You can play by yourself too. You don't have to wait for me."
She had only wanted to distract herself with a game, but if Qin Ruan joined in, it would defeat the purpose.
She didn't want to waste her efforts—at least not at that moment.
Qin Ruan bit her lip harder, clenching her fists, leaving faint marks in her palms where her nails dug in.
She didn't understand why Wen Yixin was refusing to play with her now. In the past, Wen Yixin would never have turned her down like this.
Had she realized something?
Qin Ruan pursed her lips, unsure of what to do.
Feeling a wave of frustration, she stubbornly stared at Wen Yixin. "But I want to play with you, Sister Wen."
"Are you turning me down because you think I'm annoying?"
By the time she finished speaking, Qin Ruan's gaze had dropped, and she released her lip, which was now red and tingling.
She looked pitiful, like a little girl who had just been scolded.